Carson High's Kobe Morgan hits a walk-off winner Saturday afternoon in the first of two games against Reed. Ryan Marquart had another walk-off hit for Carson in game two.
Photo by Carter Eckl.
Carson High baseball knew how important its doubleheader against Reed was Saturday for standings purposes.
Thanks to two walk-off winners, from Kobe Morgan in game one and Ryan Marquart in game two, Carson escaped with two crucial wins on its home field.
“Just really happy for our kids,” said Carson head coach Bryan Manoukian. “Going forward, it should be a big emotional boost for us. Reed played really, really well today.”
Morgan caps game one
In the first game of the afternoon, Carson jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first six innings thanks to a two-run base hit from Justin Nussbaumer in the fourth and a Tanner Hunt RBI single.
However, the seventh inning saw Reed even things back up with three runs of its own.
Nussbaumer, who was 2-for-4 in game one, singled to lead off the bottom of the seventh.
Casey Martensen followed with a single of his own before the Raiders opted to intentionally walk Trey Thomas.
Reed chose to put the bat in Kobe Morgan’s hands and he delivered with a knock to right field, allowing Nussbaumer an easy trot home to win it.
“I was just looking for a pitch to elevate to the outfield,” said Morgan. “When it happened to fall, that was a great feeling.”
It was the first of two quality starts on the mound for Carson as Thomas went all seven innings, giving up three earned runs.
Hunt also recorded two hits for Carson in the first contest.
Marquarts’ first at-bat ends game two
Carson High pitcher Ryan Marquart had not taken an at-bat this season, prior to stepping into the box with two runners on and two outs in the bottom of the eighth.
“Swing the bat and don’t strikeout,” Marquart said of his approach, leading into his at-bat.
On a 2-0 count in a 1-1 game, the junior drove a ball into shallow right field just out of the grasp of the Reed outfielder.
For the second time Saturday afternoon, the Senators spilled out of the dugout in celebration of the 2-1 win.
“I just wanted to swing the bat and it ended up working,” said Marquart. “I don’t really get to do that. I was just really happy to touch the base for once.”
On the mound, the Senators got a solid outing from starter Justin Nussbaumer, who threw six innings of work and allowed just three hits.
The senior struck out seven batters in what Manoukian thought was his best outing of the year.
“It’s the best Nussbaumer has thrown all year,” said Manoukian. “About halfway through the game, he found his slider for the first time this year and that allowed him to go a fourth time through the lineup.”
The two wins will help give the Senators a leg up in seeding come the regional tournament.
“This could have been the exact same scenario for Reed, at Reed,” said Manoukian. “Everything kind of worked out in our favor today.”
Martensen and Dillon Damico were both 3-for-4 in game two.
UP NEXT: Carson (6-8) turns around with two more games in the regular season against McQueen (9-3 prior to Saturday) Tuesday before a season finale at home against Douglas.
“We’re going to have to keep throwing strikes and playing good defense,” Morgan added.
